"I lost everything"

As Kim and I were running errands around New Orleans today, I stopped in to get a haircut. Now, when women get their haircut, the person cutting the hair becomes some combination of stylist, counselor and confidant. Not really so for guys. It only takes about 10 minutes to cut my hair, so not a lot of talking gets done.

Today was different. Lisa was talkative. When she found out I was in New Orleans to serve, she was surprised and grateful. I asked her how the storm affected her life. Here is part of the story she shared with me...

I lost everything in the storm. I never had very much, but what I had, I lost. It made me realize that stuff is just not that important. It wasn't me that I felt bad for though. The house I owned before the storm had some mold that was causing health problems for me, so I was trying to sell it. I had some friends who had just renovated their houses and lost it all. I really felt bad for them.

One special thing happened to me. During the storm, the water in one closet rose just below a shelf and ruined everything except for that one shelf. On that shelf were some old home videos from when my kids were younger. My son is 20 and my daughter is 11. In those video, he is 9 and she is just learning to walk. For my birthday, I had all those videos put on DVD. It was really special for me.

This is now the 3rd consecutive summer that Kim and I have been in New Orleans. One thing that has struck me each time I've been here are the stories of real lives. We've all seen the pictures of the devastation Katrina caused. It's another to hear real people share their lives. I'm grateful that I met Lisa today. Not only did I get a nice haircut, but God used her to soften my heart to the ongoing needs of this city. Pray for our team. We believe God has infinitely more planned for his glory through our time here than we can even imagine. May we have compassionate hearts and eager hands that are ready to serve toward that end. Who knows. There may even be someone like Lisa for whom we can help create new memories to replace those washed away by the storm.